Chapter 1 ((MALKUTH))
PAGE 1 Top-down, angled camera shot. Open on Fatima, seated in the lotus position with an IV dripped connected to her forearm. A series of electrodes dot her body as well. She is within a sealed concrete room, while a closed circuit camera watches her every move. It is dark, and nothing can be seen beyond her, the IV bag, and the red, flickering light of the camera. BARETTE: They have kept things from you. Hidden for years, because they don't think you can handle whatever is. It is because they are benevolent, they worry for your mind. Your fragile, delicate mind. PAGE 2 Switch to a TV-framed style shot, as if one is viewing the image through a surveillance footage feed. Chest level to Fatima, whose head is slumped downwards. The image starts to slowly zoom in on Fatima, as her head raises. When it appears as though she is about to speak, otherworldly, spiraling filigree emits from her mouth, and begins to form an object out of thin air. As the filigree and the object coalesce into reality, the quality of the footage degrades, and becomes grainy. Stripes of static tear through the screen, but Fatima and the trans-dimensional object which she has begun to sing into existence remain visible through out. BARETTE: We tell ourselves we're ready, we're willing-- that whatever is out there can never possibly change us as much as it they think. But the truth is, whatever lies beyond here, whatever it is they that they've seen, that we haven't, it's kept in dark, cold, far off corners for a purpose. To reason with it, is to lose reason. And in the end you'll say-- PAGE 3 Cut to Peter Dirac speaking to a large conference of scientists from an elevated stage. There are bright lights all about him, and he seems to enjoy the attention. He is appropriately dressed, wearing a formal black suit and tie. His gesticulations are grandiose. DIRAC: I can't thank you enough for this! Truly it is an honor to be amongst you all tonight. Shot of Dirac's face. He clearly appears to be enjoying the praise. BARETTE: His name is Peter Dirac-- a scientist with the lofty title of ethnobotanist, and too many degrees to count. He's a private man, but tonight he makes an exception. Tonight he drinks in their praises like some kind of malnourished animal. Pan amongst the crowd. An older, wizened looking audience is in attendance, seated around large, circular dining tables. They are interested in what Dirac has to say, leaning forward, clapping. Amongst them, though not engaging in the same level of enthusiasm, is Samuel Barrette. Instead, he appears to be more interested in his drink. DIRAC: To be recognized by such an esteemed group of academics such as yourselves, leaves me truly without words. You all know the burden of our great work. That truth is burden; it is our duty to the layman, as men and women of science, to bring that truth to the layman. Meanwhile, Barrette's attention has shifted to a rather disheveled figure ambling about the auditorium. The target of his gaze is an older man, dirty-looking, and inappropriately dressed for the event, thus warranting Barrette's concern. It is Nathan Feynman. PAGE 4 Cut to the outside of the auditorium- a well maintained courtyard at night. Dirac is standing alone talking to a group of persons who appear to be hanging on his every word. Barrette makes his way over to Dirac and introduces himself. Dirac is immediately receptive to Barrette. BARRETTE: Dr. Dirac? It's Sam Barrette from-- DIRAC: Ah yes, the reporter. You had some questions for me didn't you? Dirac and Barrette separate from the gathered persons, and move into another location within the courtyard. BARRETTE: I've been following your work for quite sometime now. Your work with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder patients was considered groundbreaking. DIRAC: It was a subject that was really close to home, you see-- There are persons within my own family who suffered with the disease for years. BARRETTE: Narrating Perhaps he was sincere, this time. Perhaps he wasn't. PAGE 5 Continued in the courtyard. BARRETTE: And, from what I can tell, it wasn't your first time working with the DoD either-- DIRAC: That is true. I've worked with them extensively throughout my career. BARRETTE: Mr. Dirac, would that explain the large gap in your resume between '82 and '91? DIRAC: I contributed to some Defense projects during that time, but the bureaucracy of it all still keeps me from talking too much about it. BARRETTE: It didn't keep you from talking to a Senate fact finding committee in 1988. DIRAC: I suppose that's what you really came to talk about then, and not the award ceremony? BARRETTE: Precisely. PAGE 6 Shot of Dirac, he removes his glasses, and pinches the bridge of his nose. The energy required to tell the story to follow is clearly too much for him. He looks up only briefly to look at Barrette, as if to examine his trustworthiness. DIRAC: If you came all this way to hear about the past, then I suppose I will oblige... During those years, I was involved in a particular line of research, of whose efficacy and morality I am still not entirely sure. Cut to shots of young Dirac as he begins his time with PANTHEON: being scouted by the Agency, being passed a dossier on the subject with the title PANTHEON embossed on it, observing an experimental dosing of a subject, and the subjects violent reaction. Zoom in on the face of Dirac as he witnesses this-- He enjoys the misery. PAGE 7 Images of the cold war flash-- a soldier in the jungles of Vietnam, afraid; an F4 phantom drops napalm; Shot of Jude Fourier, unknown to us for now, shaved and bald, seated in the lotus position, as dozens of wires and electrodes dot his body, like a sort of constricting, sterile spiderweb. It was a time of desperation-- when all other aspects of the world had been explored, conquered and militarized, the final domain, we found, was not space, but the mind. It was this line of thinking that brought us into what we called PANTHEON. Hundreds of the brightest scientists gathered under this auspice to explore this new frontier-- how could we push the human mind into inhumane territory? PAGE 8 Our questions were pure, but the answers were perilous. What we found was never intended for man. Those who returned from their... education, were changed. Different. You could see it in their eyes, and you felt it in their soul. PAGE 9 We thought that-- We... Perhaps this would be best left for another time. I was rather hoping to enjoy my night. PAGE 10 PAGE 11 PAGE 12 PAGE 13 PAGE 14 PAGE 15 PAGE 16 PAGE 17 PAGE 18 PAGE 19 PAGE 20 PAGE 21 Ah yes, Mr. Barrette. I've been waiting to meet you. Yes, I was a consultant to the Department of Defense for some years. The focus of my research then was chemical remedies for PTSD... We had some early successes, but to be honest I don't think the government was interested in venturing into unknown medical territory. The project was cancelled eventually, and we all moved on to different things. We were doctors-- scientists, researches for dozens of disciplines.